Biography

Versatility Personified

On Stage and Off

Edward Hershey jokes that he
owns a body of knowledge “a mile wide and an
inch deep” from his decade as a
general-assignment reporter. “That’s what
you get from having to become a quick-study on
different issues day after day,” he says. An
eclectic list of personal and professional
distinctions in journalism, public relations, and
community service reflects his broad background.

Hershey orchestrated the preservation of Maine’s Theater at Monmouth as president of its board; wrote “Just Browsing,” a weekly column on antiques collecting, for the Central Maine Sentinel; was twice elected a delegate to the Maine State Democratic Convention; worked to revitalize and diversify the local economy in six years as a city alderman in Ithaca, N. Y.; co-founded the Ithaca Bi-Polar Support Group to help a colleague confront the disorder; wrote and produced documentary videos on legendary Cornellians Hans Bethe and Dale Corson; and returned to sports as public address announcer for Cornell men’s and women’s basketball games for a decade and is a regular contributor to the MyOregon blog on the Oregonian web site. His contributions were lauded at two receptions when he left Newsday as well as others at Colby, L.I.U., Cornell, and (memorably) the Tombs Prison in lower Manhattan. Admissions Marketing Report, the American Marketing Association, the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education and the International Labor Communications Association have all honored his work.

Edward Hershey and his wife, Leah, reside in the Mount Tabor section of Portland, Oregon, where she has turned a prior vocation — weaving — into an avid avocation in her studio, Jersey Girl, following her retirement from at Portland State University where she managed special education programs in teacher education. Edward’s daughter, Rebecca Headen, a graduate of Cornell University and the University of Maine Law School, is an attorney who lives in Washington, D. C. with her husband Chris and their daughters Naima and Tova. Leah’s sons, David, a statistician with degrees from Cornell and Portland State, and Andrew, a snowboarding instructor and graduate of Colorado College, live in Oregon.